Cook County News Herald

School calendar may be adjusted




In the wake of unusually brutal cold temperatures and frequent snowfalls, the superintendent of Cook County Schools told the board Jan. 9, 2014 that there may be some changes made in the school calendar.

Speaking of the statewide shutdown of schools ordered by the governor on Jan. 6, Beth Schwarz said the local schools would have been closed anyway, even without the gubernatorial mandate. Schwarz went on to elaborate that there are two general rules of thumb she uses to make her decision about opening school or delaying classes: if the wind-chill readings are minus 50 degrees or worse, or if the ambient temperatures are 35 below zero or colder.

Schwarz said that although that may seem cut-and-dried, there are sometimes surprises, such as Wednesday, Jan. 8, when the school doors were opened on time despite high winds and low temperatures. “I debated closing or a late start, and in hindsight we should have had a two-hour late start,” she said. “The walk-in was rough.”

In response to questions from board members about why the post office and other businesses in town opened at normal hours and sometimes the school did not, Schwarz said the school district has other considerations such as putting vehicles on the road and clearing a larger parking lot and sidewalks. On one recent snow day, she said, school staff was literally unable to get the doors open.

Asked why school wasn’t open on Friday (Jan. 10), then (a scheduled off day), in order to make up for one of the prior closings that week, Schwarz said there was a “contractual issue” with the teachers’ union, and there just wasn’t enough turnaround time to change the calendar. Also, she said students, parents and other staff may have had plans or appointments that couldn’t be changed. “It wasn’t just short notice,” she said.

Schwarz said that to-date, the district has had four snow days this year, and that will not affect state aid because the original school calendar included about 100 more hours than the state requires. She said she would tabulate all the hours lost due to closures and late starts, and bring a report to the board’s next meeting for a discussion and decision on adding days back in or otherwise adjusting the school calendar.

In other cold-weather matters, Schwarz said she planned to speak with the county board about payment of bills sent to the district for delivery of propane. Schwarz said that because the glass wasn’t put in the YMCA’s large window until Dec. 30 (plastic was used temporarily), the building needed three 9,500-gallon deliveries of propane. Schwarz stressed that it was not a problem with the Y – it’s a construction issue and should be part of the project cost and therefore paid by the county, she said. The superintendent said she will speak with the county commissioners about the matter and report back to the board.

In a related (propane) subject, Schwarz and the board discussed the joint user agreement with the YMCA, which the Y’s board had recently approved. Schwarz said she believed the agreement was written without a proper calculation formula for propane use, and she would suggest instead a different formula that she found to be “sound.” There is about $80,000 budgeted by the Y for propane, said Schwarz, and that appears to be a reasonable amount based on her formula.

Board members reviewed and discussed the proposed agreement, and came up with some other revisions, namely the addition of a parking lot clause (30 spaces), changing the wording for creation of one private office to two, and insertion of the BTU calculation.

In other business:

. Jeanne Anderson was re-elected board chair for 2014; Sissy Lunde, treasurer; and Deb White volunteered to serve as clerk (but not to take meeting minutes) until a new member is appointed to fill a board vacancy. The News-Herald was designated as the official newspaper and Grand Marais State Bank as provider of banking services.

. Board members voted to increase their annual stipend to $2,300 (up from $2,100) and the board chair will be paid an additional $700 (up from $500).

. Schwarz reported that two letters of intent regarding the open board position have been received, and the deadline will be extended for one more round of advertising. Interviews with the interested candidates will be held in late January or early February. The vacancy was created by the resignation of Mary Sanders in December.

. Personnel actions included approval by the board to hire a part-time district office secretary; approval of maternity leave (Feb. 24 through April 14) for teacher Sarah Malkovich; and hiring of Lynn Sheils as kindergarten long-term substitute (40 hours per week) and Dena Schliep (two hours per week) as kindergarten mentor.

. Students and Knowledge Bowl participants Will Seaton and Audrey Summers, accompanied by faculty advisors Dorie Carlson and April Wahlstrom, gave a presentation and demonstration of the equipment used and explained the competition process. They thanked the many community sponsors, as well as the school board and administrators, who support their training and participation in the out-of-town competitions.



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